Plenty of local athletes will have a hand in the Tri-Cape baseball team’s success should the group make a deep run in this year’s Carpenter Cup Classic.

Ten area players were picked for the prestigious all-star squad, which consists of 25 players from the Tri-County Conference and Cape-Atlantic League. The 16-team tournament begins on June 17 at Ashburn Field in Philadelphia’s FDR Park. Tri-Cape opens plays on June 18 at 9 a.m. against Berks County.

“I’m looking forward to competing with all of the other players,” said Buena senior outfielder Robert Bunton, the lone representative from the Chiefs who led the area with 36 runs this year and was second in hits with 35. “You know everyone is going to be good, it’s going to be guys that know the game and know how to play the game well. It should be more fun than anything.”

Vineland senior pitcher Don Money and Millville junior infielder/outfielder Kyle Cox also were chosen. Christian Adorno, Barry Buchowski, Mike Elfreth and Chris Oakley of St. Augustine each made the roster as well to round out the CAL selections. Delsea pitchers Nick Freijomil and Bryan Dobzanski, and Schalick catcher Ethan Francis, were the area’s lone Tri-County choices.

For players like Cox, one of just seven non-seniors on the team, the selection was a bit of a shock.

“It was a pleasant surprise,” said Cox, who posted a .423 average this season and was fourth in the area with 33 hits. “My brother (Aaron Cox) made the team last year and it was a dream of mine to also make it. I heard about some of the players we have, it should be a pretty good team, and it will be a pleasure to go out there and play with these guys.”

The biggest challenge for teams in the Carpenter Cup is typically finding the right chemistry. In all, players from 16 teams make up the Tri-Cape roster.

Neither Bunton nor Cox seemed concerned with that challenge, however.

“The big thing is we have talented players who know what it takes to win,” Bunton said.

Cox said while the players might be different off the field, once they step on the diamond they’re all the same.

“We all want to try to do our best when we’re playing baseball,” Cox said. “When it’s time to play, you put your different teams aside and play as one individual team.”

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